Sid Lorraine Bookplate

Sid Lorraine’s bookplate in my (dustjacketless) copy of

• Lewis, Eric. C. Opus Thirteen. Goodliffe:Birmingham. 1951. 110 pp. Cover | Full Title

As book reviewer for TOPS & New TOPS magazines, Sid (Sidney Richard Johnson) had opportunity to review this very book.

From Goodliffe The Magician comes “Opus Thirteen” by Eric Lewis, a bound book of miscellaneous Magic that runs to 110 pages.

As the title indicates, this is the thirteenth work of author Lewis and if you like his type of trickery, you’ll find this to your liking. There is a great variety of Magic in this work and if you are the apparatus type, you’ll find a lot to make you happy.

There are novel tricks and gadgets, card tricks and stuff for the kiddies. We can’t possibly cover every effect but we’d like to mention a few of the things that appealed to us: The balls, the hat and the net. This starts out like the usual one where the little balls travel from the hand to the hat but what a finish! A cocoanut appears under the hat and it is presented to the helper . . . An electric heater that vanishes . . wow! . . . A color changing table that should make a hit with any act .. . and lots more . . . some two dozen items in all. Ingenious, unusual and entertaining. What more can you ask of a magical author?

In our estimation a very good buy at $2.75.

—Sid Lorraine

“Sid Lorraine’s Chatter” in TOPS: The Magazine of Magic. Vol 17, No. 1 / January 1952. P. 18.

A few year’s earlier, he reviewed Open Sesame – another of Eric’s books. Of that he wrote:

This, in my opinion, is one of the best books I’ve read in years! I read it through in one sitting . . . I just couldn’t leave it. There is more common sense in this book, more practical Magic, more real entertainment than you can find in dozens of other books published in the last few years. I have read the other books devoted to this subject and to my mind OPEN SESAME is so far ahead of them, there’s no comparison. If you entertain children, you’ll obtain a hundred dollars’ worth of information from this book.

—Sid Lorraine

“Sid Lorraine’s Chatter” in TOPS: The Magazine of Magic. Vol 12, No. 12 / December 1947. P. 5.

Sid Lorraine was also a contributor to one of Eric Lewis’ mimeographed “books” The Magic of 1936.

Finally, here is a warm letter to the editor of Lewis returning the compliments to Sid:

The October issue, which I received yesterday, was a delight, and I read it from cover to cover—something

I rarely do with a magic magazine. It was so nice to see Sid Lorraine featured. I knew him well personally and he is worth all the respect that you gave.

…

Sincerely,

ERIC C. LEWIS, M.I.M.C.

Snowden, Alan, ed. The Magic Circular. Vol. 77, No. 833 / March 1983. P. 66.

See also Sid’s entry on MagicPedia and at Magicana.

Rabbit-Themed Bookplates

I’ve linked to Confessions of a Bookplate Junkie before, but he’s run another good series of bookplates, this time on the theme of rabbits. All three posts are great – but check out #3 in particular for additional magician bookplates.

• A Herd of Rabbits, Part One
• A Herd of Rabbits, Part Two
• A Herd of Rabbits, Part Three

 

Magician’s Bookplates

Over on Confessions of a Bookplate Junkie blog today, the topic is Magician’s Bookplates.  Quite an assortment, including a few I’ll bet you’ve not seen before, like that of Martin Pacheco of Argentina, at left.

Bookplate – Milbourne Christopher

Following on yesterday’s post regarding the upcoming Milbourne Christopher auction:

In my copy of

• Parrish, Robert. New Ways to Mystify: A Guide to the Art of Magic. New York: Bernard Ackerman. 1945. 124 pp. Cover | Full Title

Listed as:

2277 • PARRISH, ROBERT. New Ways To Mystify A Guide to the Art of Magic. Illustrations by Doris Holly Peters. 124 pages. Large 12mo, wine cloth in white-lettered green jacket.

New York: Bernard Ackerman Inc., 1945

Five copies, one without jacket.

in the library catalogue

• Christopher, Maureen Brooks and Hansen, George P. The Milbourne Christopher Library: Magic, Mind Reading, Psychic Research, Spirtualism and the Occult, 1901-1996. Pasadena: Mike Caveney’s Magic Words. 1998. 339 pp. Cover | Full Title

His bookplate also masts atop the introduction of both volumes.

Mine would be the “one without jacket.”

New Ways to Mystify is an average-like-you-might-expect volume for the general public on magic, but contains one notable section: an entire chapter devoted to tricks which can be performed while confined to a bed!  Including one clever ball vanish, in which the bed-bound performer make an impromptu servante out of his or her bedsheet.

Bookplate – Virgil Anjos

The Bookplate of Virgil Anjos (??-1987), with Illustration by Ed Mishell (1896-1983)

in my copy of

• HOUDINI, [Harry]. Miracle Mongers and their Methods: A complete exposé of the modus operandi of fire eaters, heat resisters, poison eaters, venomous reptile defiers, sword swallowers, human ostriches, strong men, etc.  New York: E. P. Dutton & Company. 1920. 240 pp. Cover | Full Title | Google Books

The illustrator and owner lived near each other in New Jersey and it’s clear they were were good friends. In Genii Vol. 31, No. 4 (Dec 1966), Ed Mishell writes “I’m glad my good friend Virgil Anjos was with me to attest this superb effect”.  Later in Genii Vol. 33, No. 3 (Nov 1968), Ed Mishell describes Virgil as “one of the best mechanics in magic” (In the context of an apparatus mechanic, not card mechanic).

Virgil's Business card in Jinx #15 (Dec 1935)

Virgil’s passing on May 23, 1987 is noted in The Linking Ring, Vol. 67, No. 7 (Sep 1987) in Ring #106 Report.

Ed Mishell was the primary illustrator for Tannen’s catalogs and for Tarbell 7, illustrated and authored Jack Miller’s Hold-Out Miracles, and other contributions.

• LORAYNE, Harry. The Tarbell Course in Magic, Volume VII. South Brunswick: D. Robbins & Co., Inc. 1972, 2004. Ninth Printing. 490 pp. Cover | Full Title
• MISHELL, Ed and TANNEN, Louis (ed.). Ed Mishell’s Hold-Out Miracles. New York: Tannen Publications. 1976. 66 pp. Cover | Full Title

Ed Mishell’s art is represented in Chuck Romano’s

• ROMANO, Chuck. The Art of Deception: The affinity between conjuring and art. South Elgin: Chuck Romano. 1997. First edition. 406 pp. Limited edition of 500 singed and numbered copies. Cover | Full Title

Bookplate – Li Chung Soo (Edmund Younger, ??-1946)

Bookplate of Li Chung Soo (Edmund Younger)

In my copy of

• GOLDSTON, Will. Will Goldston’s More Exclusive Magical Secrets.  London : N.p.. N.D. 490 pp. Cover | Full Title

Younger submitted a few tips and tricks for the “Flowers from Paper Cone” trick under the title of “Flowers Aplenty” to the Summer 1939 Extra issue of The Jinx. You’ll find it on pp. 415-416 of the Second Volume (Nos. 51-100) of the bound Jinx volumes.

Vol. 25, #1 (March 1945) of The Linking Ring page 46 (in which Younger submits an article about Dante) contains this wonderful image illustrating the “Asian Invasion” in the years following the Ching Ling Foo and Chung Ling Soo:

Linking Ring Vol. 25, No 1 (March 1945) - P. 46

Magicana is displaying one of his postcards.

His obituary from Abracadabra, Vol 2, No. 42 (16 Nov 1946):

Abracadabra, Vol. 2, No. 46 (6 Nov 1946)

• HILL, Ed and PINARD, Andrew J., eds. The Yankee Magic Collector. Issue #12. 126 pp. Limited edition of 175 copies.  Not in collection.

contains an article by Edwin Dawes entitled, “Who was Li Chung Soo”, which likely explains the rest…